The contract details uploaded in June 2022 have exposed contract inflation and a lack of regard for open contract procurement guidelines.
SaharaReporters' review of the Ogun State Open Contracting portal has revealed the purchase of a 32-inch LED Hisense Television contract with an estimated budget of N1,063,000.00.
The contract details uploaded in June 2022 have exposed contract inflation and a lack of regard for open contract procurement guidelines.
It was discovered that the contract, which was awarded by the State Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, was uploaded twice with a different contractual sum but a similar description.
Findings on the portal show that N903,994.35 was put as the estimated budget for the purchase of a 32-inch Hisense LED TV and another N160,000 was budgeted for the item by the same ministry with the 27th of June, 2022 as the proposed award date.
When SaharaReporters contacted Ogun State Government for reaction, the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Engr. Ade Akinsanya, said N903,994.35 was the annual budget for the item.
Later, on Tuesday, he sent another screenshot he claimed to get from the portal, saying only N150,000 was the contract sum for the procurement of the TV and that it was the amount removed from the N903,994.35 to buy the TV.
"The balance is not only for TV, but balance available for other office needs and supplies," he said.
But when SaharaReporters asked for the specifics of what the balance of about N750,000 was spent on, he said it was meant for other logistics which he failed to highlight.
Meanwhile, a further check on the portal on Thursday morning showed information different from what was supplied two days earlier by Mr Akinsanya.
SaharaReporters observed that N200,000 was now listed on the portal as the actual project estimate for the procurement of the TV.
But when asked why the contract appeared twice on the portal with different contract sums from the same ministry and the reason for the non-specification of other items, he claimed the money was meant for, he referred SaharaReporters to an official of the State Procurement Agency, Adesanya Olanloye.
But when SaharaReporters asked Olanloye to provide answers to the pending queries based on findings, the Procurement Agency official referred our correspondent back to the ministry. He said it is the state ministry of work that can clarify the issue.
Contract Inflation: How Much Should 32-inch LED Hisense Television Cost?
Checks by SaharaReporters show that the price for a TV set of similar description is not up to N100,000.00
On Jumia, an online trading platform, a 32-inch HD LED TV + Wall Bracket 2021 Model costs N95,000.00
Also, on Konga, the price of Hisense 32" LED Television was pegged at N96,000.00
The price by the state government appears exaggerated even if the cost of other services like delivery of the TV set to the ministry was factored into the total cost.
Expert Weighs In
An advocate of Public Procurement and a member of UDEME project (a social accountability programme under the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development), Igwe Uchenna emphasised the need to ensure effective implementation of state laws and regulations as well as opening up the process to allow public participation and scrutiny.
He said it is a breach of public procurement principles to claim the estimated budget is meant for other items not captured in the project description.
He said, "Why did the government fail to include those items the money is meant for in the portal? What are those things? And what is their specification? And what is the reason behind having two separate allocated funds for a similar item by the same ministry at the time? These are big questions the institutions involved should answer.
"But if they could not provide satisfactory answers to these questions, it means something is wrong somewhere concerning the procurement of the TV set."